<<  -- 8 --  Roderic Dunnett    OPIUM OF THE ELITE

Meanwhile, cheeky and energetic Pimlico Opera plans to cap its English Touring Opera rivals this autumn with its own nifty staging of Cosi fan tutte. The production fields the same vital young team (tenor Benjamin Hulett sings Ferrando) already seen at Nevill Holt, an idyllic opera venue -- a former Preparatory School south of Uppingham, sited above the Welland valley, with its Roman road, Beeching-axed railways and Britain's longest viaduct, at the point where the counties of Northamptonshire, Rutland and Leicestershire meet.

This autumn Pimlico plans to visit venues from Exmouth to Chester, Kendal and King's Lynn, and is also poised for its first bold venture into Northern Ireland (Londonderry, Armagh, Enniskillen), which comes in early October.

This modestly conceived but lively and entertaining production, sung in Jeremy Sams's chirpy translation, vigorously directed by Ptoleny Christie and conducted by Martin Handley, stars some very promising young singers brought on by Grange Park and Nevill Holt's Young Artist scheme: Fiordiligi (Lee Bisset, Ryedale's Donna Elvira and the Royal Northern College of Music's Kennedy Strauss Prizewinner); South African Andrea Palk's Despina; tenor Benjamin Hulett's highly entertaining Ferrando; and Karina Lucas, who impressed in RNCM's Falstaff and The Queen of Spades, as Dorabella. The jolly John Lofthouse (Guglielmo) and benign Henry Grant Kerswell (Don Alfonso) complete the team; plus a rather engaging chair mover, who seems forever to be setting up and dismantling a bar.

Comedy apart, if you've a penchant for lavish spectacle, or grisly murder, Ellen Kent's touring Chisinau National Opera, from Moldova on the fringes of Eastern Europe, could well be the one for you. Despite mixed quality success with some props, they've brought some rather memorable shows to the UK of late: depending on cast, their Turandot and Butterfly can be very impressive; and last year's Rigoletto was a marked success too. This autumn, Chisinau's Cav & Pag and a visually impressive Aida are touring until early December, and you can catch them in numerous venues: the especially powerfully conceived production of Pagliacci (Clowns) stars the leading Moldovan singer and teacher Mihai Munteanu as a staggeringly dark Canio: his effective dramatic style and vocal production are a magnificent fusion of the Romanian and Russian schools.

Another redoubtable ensemble which does some touring is the Cheshire company Clonter Opera, based at a farm building near Congleton, which under Artistic Director Jeffrey Lockett continues the late Betty Bannerman's tradition of nursing up young singers (including the Royal Northern College's Alex Grove, an admirable Eisenstein in their recent Fledermaus) and offering them more substantial tution and training than perhaps any similar company in the UK. Clonter has something for verismo-lovers too: after a performance at Clonter on Saturday 2 October it will bring this season's new Madam Butterfly to the Royal College of Music's Britten Theatre in Kensington on 6 and 7 October 2004.

Continue >>